*** Big Fat Weight Loss Thread ***

Man of Honour
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I'd be interested if the "larger" guys have had blood pressure checked? My BP shot up during Covid and my weight had crept up about a stone. I've lost the weight now but BP needed meds to bring down. Now its about getting fit rather than weight for me. Losing a stone was surprisingly easy if i distract myself doing anything except eating :)

I've gone back up to a touch over 18st and my BP is on average 129/79 so slightly above the recommended range.

RHR is mid 60s and cholesterol is all within range.

All in all I seem healthier on the inside than I feel on the outside :o
 
Soldato
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Ok so I’m definitely having a deload next week then the week after that the mini-cut starts, as I’m basically back to my previous strength/size levels pre-lockdown so happy to shed some fluff now.
 
Soldato
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I yo yo all the time and during lockdown v1.0 I hit 107kg - I'm 5'11.

I have been eating better and started with HIIT workouts 5 days a week. I'm now doing weighted HIIT 5 days a week and eating well, trying to fuel myself better. It's been 2.5 months since being doing this on the regular and I'm down to 93kg. Most importantly I have shifted 5 inches off my waist. I'd be pretty chuffed at the 85kg level. I carry a lot of my weight on my back weirdly. Around my lower back and under arms. Shifting that will make a difference. I'm enjoying the process this time though. I like working out daily and the food I eat is tasty.
 
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Is it normal for weight loss to plateau?

For the past two weeks, my weight has stayed pretty much the same even though I am walking 10km a day and going to the gym twice a week. What I have noticed though over that period according to my Fitbit scales I have lost 5% in body fat.
 
Soldato
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Is it normal for weight loss to plateau?

For the past two weeks, my weight has stayed pretty much the same even though I am walking 10km a day and going to the gym twice a week. What I have noticed though over that period according to my Fitbit scales I have lost 5% in body fat.

Absolutely it's normal. I don't know the scientific reason why, but I've always guessed it's down to the body not knowing you are purposefully trying to lose weight, so once the initial easy excess has been lost then the body starts to realise there's a deficit of food in the environment and starts to hang on to what it can - which makes sense from an evolutionary pov.

I've usually found having a bit of a blow out for a couple of days, putting a few pounds on, then back on the diet/excercise routine breaks that plateau and you start losing weight again, until the next level!

Since you're doing a good bit of excercise too there could also be the issue of losing fat and gaining muscle, which weighs more. That again will help in the long run as your base calorie usage will go up with more muscle.
 
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As I said, in the past two weeks the scales show a 5% loss in body fat.

In hindsight, I should have taken some pictures and measurements at the start of the year.
 
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even though I am walking 10km a day and going to the gym twice a week.

Is that actually heading out and walking 10k a day, or just through the course of your workday or something? How active are you outside of the 10k? Also, what do you do in the gym. Most folk I see in the gym aren't burning many calories is all. Are you able to up the intensity of your exercise perhaps? I guess it also depends on what shape you're in at the moment? If you're 'quite large' still, then 10k walk a day is great and maybe you need to monitor the calories in a bit more/tighter?
 
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Is it normal for weight loss to plateau?

For the past two weeks, my weight has stayed pretty much the same even though I am walking 10km a day and going to the gym twice a week. What I have noticed though over that period according to my Fitbit scales I have lost 5% in body fat.

Yes. There are usually 2 scenarios where weight loss stalls:

1) you are still in a calorie deficit but fat loss is masked by things like water retention. You will often still see measurement changes despite the scales not budging.

2) due to diet-related adaptations such as reduced non-exercise activity, there simply being less of you, or unconsciously eating a bit more, your deficit has been reduced or removed to the point where it's closer to a new maintenance and not much fat loss is occurring.
 
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I've been on a diet since April 24th, started out like this...

vb2ICi0.png

I'm now this...

dYKLqT2.png

Well on my way to my target weight of 10.5 Stone, I'm 5 foot 9.5 inches and 45 years old.
 
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Is that actually heading out and walking 10k a day, or just through the course of your workday or something? How active are you outside of the 10k? Also, what do you do in the gym. Most folk I see in the gym aren't burning many calories is all. Are you able to up the intensity of your exercise perhaps? I guess it also depends on what shape you're in at the moment? If you're 'quite large' still, then 10k walk a day is great and maybe you need to monitor the calories in a bit more/tighter?
I go out and walk that distance.

When I go the gym, that is a 2km walk there and back so I will do 8km on a treadmill with the incline going up every 500m and then I do a series of weights.

Yes. There are usually 2 scenarios where weight loss stalls:

1) you are still in a calorie deficit but fat loss is masked by things like water retention. You will often still see measurement changes despite the scales not budging.

2) due to diet-related adaptations such as reduced non-exercise activity, there simply being less of you, or unconsciously eating a bit more, your deficit has been reduced or removed to the point where it's closer to a new maintenance and not much fat loss is occurring.

I am pretty sure I am running a calorie deficit based on what I scan into the Fitbit app, I am drinking lots of water though but I have completely cut out fizzy drinks.
 
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I go out and walk that distance.

When I go the gym, that is a 2km walk there and back so I will do 8km on a treadmill with the incline going up every 500m and then I do a series of weights.

I am pretty sure I am running a calorie deficit based on what I scan into the Fitbit app, I am drinking lots of water though but I have completely cut out fizzy drinks.

My simple heuristic is that if weight has stalled for more than a couple of weeks then something needs to be changed. Anything less than that and it’s just a trust the process thing and change nothing.
 
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Would NOT recommend using a watch as an accurate judgement of calories burnt.

I'd look at increasing protein intake due to the thermic effect (and it helping you feel more full) and limiting your calories more.

Another thing to note is if you haven't updated your weight loss into your fitbit/Garmin or whatever, it'll still be basing it off your higher bmr at your previous heavier weight, so update that if you haven't, but watches have around a 30% margin for error in calorie expenditure so I just wouldn't recommend using it as a guideline.
 
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Would NOT recommend using a watch as an accurate judgement of calories burnt.
Mine seems pretty accurate (fenix 6) and tallies well with calories in and weight gain/loss.
I'd agree they aren't perfect though but newer generations (of the Garmin at least) are fairly good and probably give a better whole day figure than I can estimate.
Having said that, accuracy is probably dependent on the watch and the person, so if you're not losing weight despite a calorie deficit over a couple of weeks then you've either got your calories in and/or calories out figures wrong.
 
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So I've noticed a clear pattern with my weight loss.

I will lose weight for a week and then it plateaus, the following week I see a steady fat loss but my weight is stable. Rinse and repeat.

Is this to be expected?
 
Soldato
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Well who knew all it'd take was to run a marathon in the Lake District to lose weight. Went from 101kg on Friday down to 94kg today.

I know it's likely to come back on, especially as i didn't eat much yesterday after the run, i am however currently eating leftover takeaway pizza that my daughter didn't finish last night :D
 
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Ha ha, yeah, I notice that a lot. Just like when I have a big meal, I will be up a few lbs for a couple of days, if I cycle 60 miles or something, I would be down a couple of days, but it will (mostly) come back.
 
Soldato
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Marathons burn a LOT of calories. Physiological limits for amount of fat than can burned over 24hrs though so not advisable as a fat loss strategy if the goal is lean mass retention.

About 2.5kg down after 1 week of dieting, decent deficit but nothing crazy. Gone more towards the lower end of the recommendations for % of calories from fat in order to fit a bit more carbs in this time.
 
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